Tyrod Taylor appears ready to return from a knee injury, and that is great news for the Bills (7-6, 25 percent) because Taylor's backup, Nathan Peterman, was in the league's concussion protocol during the week. The Bills seemingly need to win at least two of their three remaining games to have a chance at beating out Baltimore and the various other teams in the mix for a wild-card spot, and since one of the three games is against New England, Buffalo's best bet would be to win both games it has left against the Dolphins (6-7, 11 percent).
Pick: Bills
Call it troublesome -- or tiresome -- to put faith in either of these AFC East foes. The Dolphins are coming off their strongest showing of the season. If Jay Cutler regresses, it will be interesting to see whether running back Kenyan Drake can carry a heavy load for Miami again. The Bills are mired in the longest playoff drought in pro sports, but they still carry decent prospects of playing in January. Here's what Buffalo would like: the Chargers winning at Arrowhead; the Cowboys taking down the Raiders; the struggling Titans tripping up against the 49ers. All three outcomes are possible, if not probable. Next week in New England might be problematic, though.
Fun fact: LeSean McCoy is just 39 rushing yards shy of 10,000 for his career. I don't think most people realize he's that high up the rushing charts.
Bills 19, Dolphins 14
MDS's take: The Dolphins surprised me on Monday night, but I think the Jay Cutler-led offense is going to struggle on a cold day in Buffalo.
MDS's pick:Bills 13, Dolphins 10.
Florio's take: The Dolphins finally found the gas pedal. Is it too late?
Florio's pick: Dolphins 24, Bills 21.
It looks like Tyrod Taylor will be back at quarterback for the Buffalo Bills if he's healthy, but we don't know for certain what to expect from the offense. What I do know is that I've liked what I've seen from the Miami Dolphins lately.
Jay Cutler has been playing well, and running back Kenyan Drake is a star in the making—he reminds me a lot of LeSean McCoy, actually. Miami's defense has been phenomenal over the past two weeks as well.
The Bills are sound and disciplined on both sides of the ball, but they lack playmakers. They don't have enough of them on offense to pick apart this Miami defense with the way it's playing right now.
Buffalo will have the advantage of being at home, but Miami is the better team at this point. I like the Dolphins to pull away very late in an otherwise close game.
Prediction: Dolphins 28, Bills 20
The Dolphins impressed by beating the Patriots Monday night, including a good showing by Jay Cutler. That was good Cutler. Can it continue? I think it does here, provided there isn't another Buffalo blizzard. This is essentially a playoff game, with the loser out. I think the Dolphins will win it.
Dolphins 28, Bills 20
The Dolphins are coming off a win over the Patriots in which Jay Cutler played his best game all season. They also are coming off a win over the Bills late last season that ended a four-game losing streak in Buffalo, and they won that with Matt Moore filling in for Ryan Tannehill. Tyrod Taylor couldn't make it back from his knee injury in time to play in the blizzard last week. Nathan Peterman was knocked out of that game with a concussion. The signs for the Bills have been better.
Prediction: Dolphins, 26-20
If the Bills sneak into the playoffs, it has to be the weirdest playoff season in recent memory.
BUFFALO BILLS (7-6) over Miami Dolphins (6-7)
